ATHENS, Ga. – “Education takes place every day in many different settings,” said Tommy Johnson, the University of Georgia College of Pharmacy’s 2004 Teacher of the Year. “If it only happened in the classroom, then the knowledge gained would be very limited. What I try to do is provide a variety of experiences to meet individual learning styles and make it as practical as possible.”
Johnson’s primary outlet for this all-encompassing teaching philosophy is in the Pharmacy Skills Lab for third-year pharmacy students. In this setting, he and pharmacy professor Larry Aull set up clinical experiences that prepare the students for their clinical rotations and pharmacy practice. During the didactic part of the course, students learn to give immunizations, develop basic physical assessment skills and learn about screening and monitoring of common respiratory and cardiovascular conditions. Students then apply their newly acquired knowledge and skills in primary care physicians’ offices at Mercy Health Center and in community pharmacies.
“The skills lab is one of the greatest aspects of the third-year program because it brings together everything they’ve learned into real life situations,” said Johnson, a clinical assistant professor in the college’s department of clinical and administrative pharmacy.
Students’ evaluations of the skills lab include such comments as “extremely informative and educational” and “most beneficial and interesting.” Comments on Johnson’s teaching skills were equally as positive: “Dr. Johnson did an excellent job in organizing and teaching this course”; “he did a great job of training us before sending us to the sites”; and “I’m impressed with his knowledge; he is a well-rounded pharmacist.”
Johnson’s own advanced education has included becoming a certified diabetes educator and certified disease manager in diabetes and dyslipidemia. Before beginning his career at UGA in 1999, he worked in retail pharmacies and served as the diabetes coordinator for the Anderson Area Medical Center in Anderson, S.C.
“I pursued certification, first of all, to gain a better knowledge about a disease that has affected my family and to provide diabetes education to others,” said Johnson. “ In the community pharmacy setting, people with diabetes enter the store with very little knowledge about their treatment or their condition. The number of people with diabetes and its co-morbidities continues to rise, and we need as many pharmacists and healthcare providers providing education as possible. For this reason, I wanted to develop and offer a diabetes elective to educate our students in skills that they could use once they enter practice.”
Said one student after completing Johnson’s course, “Now I feel comfortable in the area of diabetes healthcare where I was uncomfortable before.”
Johnson comes from a family of teachers and his destiny as an educator may have been determined even before he realized it. In high school he decided to become a pharmacist after completing a science fair project in which he worked with a pharmacist to compare over-the-counter and prescription acne medications. His decision to become an educator was influenced by several professors, with Leonard Neager from the St. Louis College of Pharmacy having the most influence.
“Dr. Neager used nontraditional techniques to teach us about pharmacology. He was a pharmacist who could make the most difficult material understandable. I wanted to provide students with that practical approach to teaching and learning,” he said.
“The best thing about my job is that I can continue with my clinical practice in addition to my classroom teaching,” he noted. “As far as winning this award, I feel like I work with some very talented and smart people. My enjoyment of teaching wouldn’t be what it is without the friendships I’ve made with fellow faculty and students.”
As the college’s teacher of the year, Johnson was recognized at the University of Georgia Honors Day program. His award includes an engraved memento, a cash award of $1,000, and funds to attend the annual meeting of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy.